The new millennium has presented its own challenges to business owners, large and small. Outsourcing is on the rise as a result and many businesses are finding they can cut costs, perform efficiently and refocus on their priorities by employing virtual employees. These workers can be used in a variety of ways depending upon your needs. They typically fall into three categories.

Full Time On-Your-Payroll Employees
These employees work for you but generally from the comfort of their own homes. These can be office assistants, data entry clerks, almost any type of employee. You save because you do not have to provide office space and equipment for them. However, you still pay salary, insurance and other benefits just as you do for in-house employees. Generally, these are productive, self-disciplined people with whom you have a good working relationship. Each side gains a little something from this arrangement.

Full Time Contractors
Virtual employees who freelance their services out to other companies fall into this category. These employees either work for themselves or for an outsourcing company. They perform your tasks but are paid by their employer. You pay a fee or an agreed upon hourly rate for their services. Ideal situations for these employees are call centers like technical support, help desks and customer service answering centers. Your overhead is cut completely. No payroll, benefits or other personnel issues, to deal with. No office space and equipment to purchase and maintain. You simply pay for their services and the get the work done that you need.

Short Term Workers
There are always projects that need diligent attention. It is not always possible to reassign existing staff to cover such projects. Perhaps there is no one with the qualifications to perform the tasks that need doing. Maybe you need a web designer to construct a site for your business or someone to develop software for an internal application. These types of situations call for special skills and dedicated man-hours to achieve the goal. Many virtual employees live for these sorts of opportunities. They can work on the types of projects they prefer and pick when and how often they want to work. The employer gets the benefit of expertise and experience without having to hire another fulltime employee only to let them go when the job is completed.

Many large companies already make extensive use of virtual employees but small and medium enterprises can also benefit. Outsourced employees can save money by reducing your office space and equipment costs, cutting salary and benefit costs and recruitment and training costs. That money can be channeled back into your business or realized as profits. No matter how you look at it, employees who telecommute are a serious advantage to business owners.

Take a look at your existing workforce and your future business plans. By outsourcing some of the more mundane aspects of your business or using the expertise of technical professionals for special projects, you could realize those goals more quickly than you anticipated.